Press release -
Making a splash!
The IPC (International Paralympic Committee) Swimming World Championships 2015 in Glasgow was worth more than £1.5m to the Scottish economy, a new report commissioned by VisitScotland, UK Sport, British Swimming and Glasgow Life has revealed.
The event, which took place at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre in July last year, also made a direct contribution of £1.5m to Glasgow’s economy.
The impact study, conducted by Sheffield Hallam University, also revealed that 98% of UK resident spectators felt proud about Glasgow hosting the event while 89% would recommend the spectator experience at the event to friends and family.
The event, held in the same pool that hosted the hugely successful swimming competition at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, was broadcast nationwide via Channel 4 and More4 to more than 200,000 viewers. In addition, over 120 members of the world’s media came to the city to report on the Championships.
The IPC Swimming World Championships 2015 is part of UK Sport’s National Lottery funded #EveryRoadtoRio campaign to bring world class sport to the UK and give GB athletes the opportunity to qualify and fine tune preparations for Rio 2016.
A total of almost 4,000 spectators watched Team GB pick up 32 medals across the six days, including 10 golds, as 582 athletes, from 65 countries around the world competed at Glasgow‘s International Swimming Centre.
The IPC Swimming World Championships, which is staged every two years, is the biggest event on the calendar for para-swimming outside of the Paralympic Games.
Malcolm Roughead, Chief Executive of VisitScotland said:
“The IPC Swimming World Championships was a fantastic opportunity for Glasgow to host another world class sporting event, and as predicted the city did not disappoint.
“The global coverage put Glasgow in the spotlight once again, following the enormous success of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and showcased what a fantastic city it is, not only as a host of major sporting events but also to visit.
“Through strong collaboration between our partners and EventScotland, we have again proved that Scotland is the perfect stage for events. With an annual value of £3.5 billion, events play a key role in our success as a tourism destination by attracting more visitors, raising our international profile and generating hundreds of millions of pounds for the country’s vital visitor economy.”
Depute Leader of Glasgow City Council and Chair of Glasgow Life, Councillor Archie Graham OBE, said:
“Glasgow showed the world why it is regarded as one of the world’s top 10 sporting cities during an incredible 2015. Glasgow’s Year of Sport was one of the most memorable in our proud sporting history thanks to events such as the IPC Swimming World Championships.
“It was a stunning sporting showcase with 38 world records set in the pool at Tollcross International Swimming Centre. But more than that, it delivered significant economic benefits at a city and national level, which is great news for businesses and citizens alike.”
David Sparkes, Chief Executive of British Swimming, said:
“We are delighted that, working together as a team, we achieved such a successful outcome to the 2015 IPC World Championships held in Glasgow.
“Through the close co-operation of EventScotland and Glasgow City Council we believe that collectively we significantly raised the bar in terms of presenting swimming at the very highest level of Paralympic sport.”
Simon Morton, Chief Operating Officer, UK Sport, said:
“This outstanding event was part of UK Sport’s National Lottery funded #EveryRoadtoRio campaign which aims to bring an estimated £37m of economic benefit to host cities across the UK whilst supporting athletes in their qualification and preparation for Rio 2016. The fantastic GB medal success plus the economic impact of £1.5m demonstrates once again the UK is a world leader in hosting major sporting events.”
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- corporate communications
- eventscotland
- sportstourism
Regions
- Scotland
Notes to Editors
- Follow us on twitter: @visitscotnews
- VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
- The organisation’s core objective is to contribute to the Tourism 2020 Strategy ambition of growing tourism revenues by £1 billion by 2020.
- This will be supported by seven overarching strategies:
- Marketing: we will market Scotland and its outstanding assets to visitors from all parts of the world, including the promotion of Scotland to people living in Scotland to visit different parts of the country
- Events: we will support the national events strategy and its delivery, and sustain, develop and promote Scotland’s international profile as one of the world’s foremost events destinations
- Internationalisation and International Engagement: we will utilise all our platforms to enable Scottish-based tourism businesses to better understand international opportunities and market to a global audience and we will work within One Scotland Partnerships to optimise the potential of Scotland’s Diaspora and our strategic partners at regional, European and global levels
- Customer Experience: we will provide information and inspiration to visitors both locally and globally via their preferred medium of choice
- Quality and Sustainability: we will provide support and advice to businesses, with the goal of improving the quality and sustainability of the tourism sector in Scotland. We will provide quality assurance to visitors through our Quality Schemes
- Inclusive Tourism: we will strive to make tourism in Scotland inclusive and available to all
- Working in Partnership: we will listen to and work with the industry, partners and communities to shape our offering and support
- VisitScotland works together with tourism businesses to make tourism a success for everyone and ensure the industry continues to grow.
- The organisation employs 700 people and has offices and VisitScotland Information Centres across Scotland.
- Spending by tourists in Scotland generates around £12 billion of economic activity in the wider Scottish supply chain and contributes around £6 billion to Scottish GDP (in basic prices). This represents about 5% of total Scottish GDP.
- For VisitScotland’s press releases go to http://www.visitscotland.org/media_centre.aspx, tourism statistics and frequently asked questions go to http://www.visitscotland.org/
- Where possible, a Gaelic speaker will be made available for broadcast interviews on request (Far an tèid iarraidh, agus far am bheil sin nar comas, bruidhinnidh neach le Gàidhlig aig agallamh)
- For holiday information on Scotland go to www.visitscotland.com
- For information about business events in Scotland go to www.conventionscotland.com
Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design 2016 - 2016 will shine a spotlight on Scotland’s achievements in innovation, architecture and design through a wide-ranging, variety of new and existing activity.
- The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design begins on 1 January 2016 and ends on 31 December 2016 and will build on the momentum generated by the current 2015 Year of Food and Drink as well as previous years including Homecoming Scotland 2014, the Year of Creative and the Year of Natural.
- Through a series of exciting events and activity, the year will showcase Scotland’s position as an “innovation nation”, its outstanding built heritage, and its thriving, internationally acclaimed creative industries sector.
- The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design is a Scottish Government initiative being led by VisitScotland, and supported by a variety of partners including Scottish Government, Creative Scotland, Architecture + Design Scotland, Scottish Tourism Alliance, Scottish Enterprise, The National Trust for Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS).
- The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design events fund is managed by EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate.
- Join the conversation at #IAD2016
- Events can join the 2016 Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design Partner Programme throughout the year by visiting http://www.eventscotland.org/YIAD_partner_programme
